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Nonfarm payroll employment up 150,000 in October 2023

November 15, 2023

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 150,000 in October 2023, below the average monthly gain of 258,000 over the prior 12 months. Job gains occurred in health care, social assistance, and government while employment in manufacturing declined.

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Chart Data

1-month change in employment by industry, October 2023
Industry	Employment change
Mining and logging	1,000
Logging	-100
Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction	500
Oil and gas extraction	300
Mining (except oil and gas)	-1,000
Coal mining	-500
Metal ore mining	-500
Nonmetallic mineral mining and quarrying	0
Support activities for mining	1,200
Construction	23,000
Construction of buildings	6,300
Residential building construction	3,700
Nonresidential building construction	2,600
Heavy and civil engineering construction	1,600
Specialty trade contractors	14,200
Residential specialty trade contractors	10,000
Nonresidential specialty trade contractors	4,200
Manufacturing	-35,000
Durable goods	-36,000
Wood product manufacturing	-200
Nonmetallic mineral product manufacturing	0
Primary metal manufacturing	-900
Fabricated metal product manufacturing	800
Machinery manufacturing	-1,700
Computer and electronic product manufacturing	-1,700
Computer and peripheral equipment manufacturing	-800
Communications equipment manufacturing	600
Semiconductor and other electronic component manufacturing	-900
Navigational, measuring, electromedical, and control instruments manufacturing	-200
Manufacturing and reproducing magnetic and optical media and audio and video equipment manufacturing	-400
Electrical equipment, appliance, and component manufacturing	400
Transportation equipment manufacturing^[1]	-29,900
Motor vehicles and parts^[2]	-33,200
Furniture and related product manufacturing	-1,500
Miscellaneous manufacturing	-1,700
Nondurable goods	1,000
Food manufacturing	6,200
Textile mills	100
Textile product mills	-1,200
Apparel manufacturing	-500
Paper manufacturing	600
Printing and related support activities	1,100
Petroleum and coal products manufacturing	-400
Chemical manufacturing	-2,600
Plastics and rubber products manufacturing	-3,100
Beverage, tobacco, and leather and allied product manufacturing	1,200
Trade, transportation, and utilities	-1,000
Wholesale trade	9,400
Merchant wholesalers, durable goods	3,600
Merchant wholesalers, nondurable goods	2,900
Wholesale trade agents and brokers	2,900
Retail trade	700
Motor vehicle and parts dealers	5,900
Automobile dealers	5,900
Other motor vehicle dealers	-1,900
Automotive parts, accessories, and tire retailers	1,800
Building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers	-3,100
Food and beverage retailers	3,400
Furniture, home furnishings, electronics, and appliance retailers	-3,400
Furniture and home furnishings retailers	1,900
Electronics and appliance retailers	-5,300
General merchandise retailers	700
Department stores	-1,600
Warehouse clubs, supercenters, and other general merchandise retailers	2,200
Health and personal care retailers	-300
Gasoline stations and fuel dealers	-2,200
Clothing, clothing accessories, shoe, and jewelry retailers	2,700
Sporting goods, hobby, musical instrument, book, and miscellaneous retailers	-3,000
Transportation and warehousing	-12,100
Air transportation	3,500
Rail transportation	0
Water transportation	1,200
Truck transportation	-5,000
Transit and ground passenger transportation	-700
Pipeline transportation	-500
Scenic and sightseeing transportation	-400
Support activities for transportation	-1,400
Couriers and messengers	2,600
Warehousing and storage	-11,400
Utilities	800
Information	-9,000
Motion picture and sound recording industries	-5,400
Publishing industries	-4,500
Broadcasting and content providers	300
Telecommunications	1,400
Computing infrastructure providers, data processing, web hosting, and related services	-1,000
Web search portals, libraries, archives, and other information services	-100
Financial activities	-2,000
Finance and insurance	-7,800
Monetary authorities-central bank	-100
Credit intermediation and related activities	-10,000
Depository credit intermediation^[1]	-5,400
Commercial banking	-5,800
Nondepository credit intermediation	-3,000
Activities related to credit intermediation	-1,600
Securities, commodity contracts, funds, trusts, and other financial vehicles, investments, and related activities	1,200
Insurance carriers and related activities	1,100
Real estate and rental and leasing	5,100
Real estate	3,300
Rental and leasing services	1,800
Lessors of nonfinancial intangible assets (except copyrighted works)	0
Professional and business services	15,000
Professional, scientific, and technical services	17,000
Legal services	0
Accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping, and payroll services	300
Architectural, engineering, and related services	2,600
Specialized design services	500
Computer systems design and related services	6,700
Management, scientific, and technical consulting services	2,600
Scientific research and development services	-1,100
Advertising, public relations, and related services	2,300
Other professional, scientific, and technical services	3,100
Management of companies and enterprises	-2,500
Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services	400
Administrative and support services	1,800
Office administrative services	6,000
Facilities support services	-300
Employment services^[1]	-2,600
Temporary help services	6,600
Business support services	-7,500
Travel arrangement and reservation services	2,800
Investigation and security services	100
Services to buildings and dwellings	-300
Other support services	3,900
Waste management and remediation services	-1,400
Private education and health services	89,000
Private educational services	11,500
Health care and social assistance	77,200
Health care	58,400
Ambulatory health care services	32,400
Offices of physicians	12,600
Offices of dentists	-3,600
Offices of other health practitioners	4,400
Outpatient care centers	8,100
Medical and diagnostic laboratories	-1,100
Home health care services	9,500
Other ambulatory health care services	2,600
Hospitals	18,100
Nursing and residential care facilities	7,900
Skilled nursing care facilities	4,400
Residential intellectual and developmental disability, mental health, and substance abuse facilities	1,300
Continuing care retirement communities and assisted living facilities for the elderly	1,800
Other residential care facilities	300
Social assistance	18,800
Individual and family services	14,300
Community food and housing, and emergency and other relief services	1,300
Vocational rehabilitation services	400
Child care services	2,800
Leisure and hospitality	19,000
Arts, entertainment, and recreation	20,400
Performing arts, spectator sports, and related industries	10,300
Museums, historical sites, and similar institutions	600
Amusement, gambling, and recreation industries	9,500
Accommodation and food services	-800
Accommodation	6,700
Food services and drinking places	-7,500
Other services	-1,000
Repair and maintenance	1,000
Personal and laundry services	-3,500
Religious, grantmaking, civic, professional, and similar organizations	1,100
Government	51,000
Federal	3,000
Federal, except U.S. Postal Service	2,400
U.S. Postal Service	800
State government	10,000
State government education	2,500
State government, excluding education	7,400
Local government	38,000
Local government education	26,400
Local government, excluding education	11,900
^[1] Includes other industries, not shown separately. ^[2] Includes motor vehicle manufacturing, motor vehicle body and trailer manufacturing, and motor vehicle parts manufacturing.

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Within private education and health services, health care added 58,000 jobs in October 2023, in line with its average monthly gain of 53,000 over the prior 12 months. Over the month, employment continued to trend up in ambulatory health care services (+32,000), hospitals (+18,000), and nursing and residential care facilities (+8,000). Social assistance added 19,000 jobs in October 2023, compared with its average monthly gain of 23,000 in the prior 12 months. Individual and family services employment grew 14,000 over the month.

Employment in government increased by 51,000 in October 2023, returning to its pre-pandemic February 2020 level. Monthly job growth in government had averaged 50,000 in the 12 months prior to October 2023. In October, employment continued to trend up in local government (+38,000).

In October 2023, employment in manufacturing decreased by 35,000, reflecting a decline of 33,000 in motor vehicles and parts that was largely due to strike activity.

These data are from the Current Employment Statistics program and are seasonally adjusted. Data for the most recent 2 months are preliminary. To learn more, see "The Employment Situation — October 2023." Also see more charts of national employment, hours, and earnings data.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Nonfarm payroll employment up 150,000 in October 2023 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2023/nonfarm-payroll-employment-up-150000-in-october-2023.htm (visited May 02, 2024).

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